Iceblossom

Figured this could go here or general or the personal section -- so if it gets moved so be it!

Part of the reason for our move was so we could be closer to our food products. Many reasons for being "localvore". Today we are going to get a share in a cow for raw milk. Raw milk is legal in Illinois, can be sold to the public but we are doing this as something we believe in (the share system can be used in states that don't allow commercial sales of raw milk). Local, less traveled, less processed, "craft" items. The farmer is very local to us -- maybe 5 miles in a straight line? He is retiring from commercial operation and wants to keep a few of the "ladies" as basically dairy pets. We will pay $100/year as a share, then $35 a month, for one gallon per week plus the member's price on additional milk should we want. Yikes! I know, I can buy Kroger milk for $2.75ish. And maybe some of it will average out with the Hubby buying half gallons of heavy cream at Costco for like $15. But again, this is something we believe in.

Hubby has never been exposed to what I call "milk that needs to be shaken".

Right now we don't do much dairy as milk. I do put it in my tea or coffee. We eat a lot of cheese, and maybe we will try some soft cheeses.

Hubby does want to start making Kefir, and the farming has the grains to share. I might start making homemade yogurt instead of buying prepared.

Any other ideas/comments? Raw milk is a personal choice, at other points in my life I have not sought it out.

patricej

he might take a while to get used to it. i grew up on genuine whole milk. once i went out into the world on my own it was years and years before i had the real stuff again at my parents' house. even the high-end grocery store brands taste like water in comparison.

my "cityfied" tastebuds and digestion went into shock.
(let's just say there were "results" and leave it at that.)

congratulations on being able to "go back to the future." :-)

peaceandjoy

I grew up on a small family cash crop and dairy farm. Except for school, I didn't have pasteurized milk until I married and moved away. Never gave the raw milk a thought; it was what we had.

I think in the 30 years since my father died, I've been back in the barns maybe 10 times. Getting off of the farm was definitely one of my goals. The uncertainty of making a profit, regardless of how hard one worked, was not for me. My brother chose to take over the farm, more bc there wasn't really anything he wanted to do than bc he liked it.

While the milk is tested before being put into the tanker that picks it up every other day, there is no way I'd go back to raw milk. The smell and taste alone completely turns me off. I'm not a big milk drinker anyhow, but it goes in my coffee each morning. There are lots of things I'm willing to do to mitigate health concerns. Having pasteurized milk is definitely on that list.

GingerK

I also grew up on a farm and loved going to my grandparents because they had 'city milk'. I think it was more about the product being icy cold with no need to 'shake it up' before drinking, than a difference in taste.

Iceblossom, my DH makes yoghurt from half and half. We tried it using commercial yoghurt as a starter but no matter how 'natural' the commercial stuff is labelled, we had much much better results using a starter from the health food store. The starters came 3 packets to a box but we only needed one. You only need to add half a cup or so from the previous batch, for 2 liters or quarts of liquid. DH also lets it drain through a big coffee filter for 24 hours before using. It is super thick and rich!

I think I would be interested in trying to make butter.

nlgh

I grew up on a ranch and except for milk at school, our family used for raw milk for drinking and cooking. When I went to college and then out on my own, then I bought it from the store, until I visited the ranch on vacations, I never did learn to enjoy drinking skimmed milk (after Momma had skimmed the cream off for a couple days after putting the pans of milk in the refrigerator). I still can't drink skim milk to this day and I am 87 years old now.

Onebyone

I grew up with milk in bucket sitting on countertop, cream at top, butter made in churn. Yep even with a grocery store just a few miles away we seldom bought dairy products or eggs. My kids grew up with half and half as milk because I didn't like the milk in the store sold as whole milk. Now I buy organic half and half. It lasts a long time in the fridge.

tranum

We milked cows. Calves drank milk, young pigs drank milk and the same milk was carried to the house for us to drink and use for cooking. Cream was sold to buy essentials and pay bills. Grew up healthy and strong. If Mom served canned peas or green beans, she drained the liquid off and heated them with milk and a pat of butter and served in a sauce dish. It’s what Dad’s Mother did and he liked it that way. We have a Midwest chain of Convenience Stores that have the freshest tasting milk and eggs so naturally we buy from them. Their bakery is popular too. I’m told they have their own dairy, chickens and bakery so it gets to the store quickly.

Iceblossom

We had a lovely time visiting the farm and farmers and meeting the Ladies. They are Brown Swiss and some were quite beautiful with distinctive hair styles. The farm dogs were dalmatians, and there were a couple of rescued feral kitties with their ears clipped (to show they've been neutered). And chickens and sheep and geese and ducks, both domestic and volunteer.

We are used to stringent recycling from when we lived in the Seattle area. Here we couldn't even pay to get yard recycle pick up in our neighborhood. Again, what we are used to is mandatory recycling and not used to having separate trash and recycle companies/pick ups. Most of our neighbors just toss stuff back into the ravine but we take ours to a recycle center, is not bad and pretty easy big brown paper (recyclable) bags just for this purpose are easily available at Costco and home stores . Anyway, the next place down the road from the dairy is his brother who owns the recycle.

PB from MN

My husband and I formerly milked cows. I did not grow up on a farm, so it took me a while to drink raw milk. My sons grew up on it, but I would never serve it to guests, nor would I drink someone else's raw milk not knowing how they took care of their dairy. There are risks to drinking raw milk and I am sure you are aware of them.
Begin slowly so your body can adjust to it.
Raw milk will sour faster than pasteurized.
Make sure you are getting enough vitamin D.
You do need to shake it before using to mix in the cream.
If you use yeast to bake bread, milk will need to be scalded as there is an enzyme in raw milk that will kill the yeast.
The containers you use can develop milk stone if they are not thoroughly cleaned. It is a deposit of minerals.
Do not give it to young children.
My husband misses it when I make oyster stew for Christmas Eve as he says it just does not taste the same with pasteurized milk and cream.

ptquilts

People who drank raw milk in the past (and I am among them) - that was before bird flu. No way I would drink it now. (not to mention other pathogens that can be in there).